Related Articles

Muamba has been fitted with a defibrillator above his heart to help keep his heart going should it stop again.

A Belgian professional footballer, Anthony van Loo, plays with one in his chest, but unlike Muamba had his condition diagnosed before suffering any attack. There is footage of him collapsing during a game and being jolted back to life.

For Muamba, a return to the pitch is still some time away and he admitted it will be months before he can even talk about returning to the game he loves.

In the meantime, he said, he was thankful for getting to spend time with his fiancée Shauna and their three year old son Joshua.

"I've still got a long way to go with my memory and it frustrates me," he said.

"Obviously my brain is not as it used to be because there are things missing.

"My memory is literally all over the place.

"I will talk to Shauna, ask her about someone. Five minutes later I'll ask the same question."

Muamba also spoke of his sadness at the deaths of two sportsmen since his own incident – Livorno player Piermario Morosini, who collapsed on the pitch, and Norwegian swimmer Alexander Dale Oen.

He said: "Three times in sports in the last few months? Unbelievable. There has to be a way of stopping this.

"Morosini in Italy, that shocked me big time. I watched it on YouTube. It was mind-blowing.

"I said to myself, 'This was me not so long ago'."

Muamba's fiancée Shauna described how she had been watching the match at home on television with their son when Muamba collapsed.

She said Bolton's club doctor Jonathan Tobin stopped the medics from giving up during the period of resuscitation.

She said: "It was only the personal relationship between Dr Tobin and Fabrice that kept them going. Dr Tobin told me that."